Barack Obama Quotes

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek."

"Why can't I just eat my waffle?"

"If you're walking down the right path and you're willing to keep walking, eventually you'll make progress."

"The future rewards those who press on. I don't have time to feel sorry for myself. I don't have time to complain. I'm going to press on."

"There is not a liberal America and a conservative America - there is the United States of America. There is not a black America and a white America and latino America and asian America - there's the United States of America."

"We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we've set. We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded."

"Understand, our police officers put their lives on the line for us every single day. They've got a tough job to do to maintain public safety and hold accountable those who break the law."

"My fellow Americans, we are and always will be a nation of immigrants. We were strangers once, too."

"I've got a pen and I've got a phone - and I can use that pen to sign executive orders and take executive actions and administrative actions that move the ball forward."

"It's not surprising, then, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

"I think when you spread the wealth around it's good for everybody."

"We need to internalize this idea of excellence. Not many folks spend a lot of time trying to be excellent."

"We need to steer clear of this poverty of ambition, where people want to drive fancy cars and wear nice clothes and live in nice apartments but don't want to work hard to accomplish these things. Everyone should try to realize their full potential."

"I'm the president of the United States. I'm not the emperor of the United States."

"No one is pro-abortion."

"If the people cannot trust their government to do the job for which it exists - to protect them and to promote their common welfare - all else is lost."

"Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a certain poverty of ambition. It asks too little of yourself. Because it's only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you realize your true potential."

"Our higher education system is one of the things that makes America exceptional. There's no place else that has the assets we do when it comes to higher education. People from all over the world aspire to come here and study here. And that is a good thing."

"Money is not the only answer, but it makes a difference."

"Over the last 15 months, we've traveled to every corner of the United States. I've now been in 57 states? I think one left to go."

"The thing about hip-hop today is it's smart, it's insightful. The way they can communicate a complex message in a very short space is remarkable."

"That's the good thing about being president, I can do whatever I want."

"In a world of complex threats, our security and leadership depends on all elements of our power - including strong and principled diplomacy."

"One of the great strengths of the United States is... we have a very large Christian population - we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values."

"Now you have a choice: we can give more tax breaks to corporations that ship jobs overseas, or we can start rewarding companies that open new plants and train new workers and create new jobs here, in the United States of America."

"I mean, I do think at a certain point you've made enough money."

"I found this national debt, doubled, wrapped in a big bow waiting for me as I stepped into the Oval Office."

"I just miss - I miss being anonymous."

"We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don't like federal agents poking around our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and have gay friends in the Red States."

"It was the labor movement that helped secure so much of what we take for granted today. The 40-hour work week, the minimum wage, family leave, health insurance, Social Security, Medicare, retirement plans. The cornerstones of the middle-class security all bear the union label."